The number of people visiting the Grand Palace’s Dusit Maha Prasart Throne Hall to pay respects before the Royal Urn of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej peaked at 73,889 persons on Monday, the Bureau of Royal Household reported at 3am on Wednesday.

A total of 11,334,277 people had visited the Royal Urn over the past 328 days. During the same period, public merit-making donations for the late King totalled Bt839,463,722.76.

The beloved monarch passed away on October 13 last year. The Royal Cremation is scheduled for October 25-29.

Deputy spokesman of Pheu Thai Party Wim Rungwatanachinda told reporters the verdict in the case against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra was still being read by the Supreme Court as of 2pm on Wednesday.

He had left the courtroom to talk to reporters

The Supreme Court took almost three hours to read the verdict on the fugitive former prime minister’s alleged negligence in her government’s rice-pledging scheme.

However, at 2pm, there was rumour that the court had finished reading the verdict.

“It is organised by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES), Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) and co-organised by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

The event will display the processes to transform the country to Thailand 4.0, a new engine of growth that will drive the economy forward through high-tech industries and innovations.

In 2017, the government has maximised the use of digital technology in three aspects;

To create new opportunities for economic growth and improve the delivery of government services for its people: the Pracha Rat Internet, to bridge a digital gap by providing high speed Internet accessibility to 74,700 communities in Thailand within a year.

The government is aiming to create innovations through the application of technology, such as e-commerce to enhance the capabilities so that the people can run their businesses online; e-health to enable swift exchange of information between experts and individual units located across the nation; e-education to offer numerous possibilities for distance learning to people, including children, senior citizens and underprivileged; e-agriculture to change the country’s traditional farming to smart farming and to help Thai farmers to become entrepreneurs and e-service to serve as a central information center to facilitate people in obtaining public services.

Ranges of digital innovations: Digital Park Thailand spanning over 600 rai will be built in Sri Racha, Chon Buri as the centre of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC); support for the Internet of Things (IoT) to local tech start-ups; and smart city initiatives. Digital Park and the development of smart cities will help improve quality of life and the local environment while enabling the country to use resources more efficiently.

Global Connectivity: This is to facilitate international collaboration through digital platforms. The government is in the process of setting up a one-stop service for permits relating to setting up a business. To improve the ease of doing business, cooperation with global partners will be made to support Thai startups to form their businesses and create a cybersecurity.

FORMER MISS TEEN THAILAND and now-disgraced actress Amelia Jacobs, who was arrested on drug-related charges early on Tuesday morning, is not the first – and will not be the last – Thai star who has seen a bright future threatened by involvement with illegal drugs.

Indeed, the police blotter is littered with examples of celebrities being caught with narcotics, ending in lengthy jail sentences and hefty fines, although in some cases, canny public relations and efforts to rehabilitate have saved careers that seemed beyond repair.

Just this last March, the Supreme Court upheld a verdict against Chatchaya Ramos, or “Yuyee”, formerly a popular model, sentencing her to 15 years and three months in jail for smuggling cocaine into the country in November 2012.

During a search at Don Mueang International Airport, authorities found 251 milligrams of cocaine concealed in her suitcase. In addition to the jail sentence, she was also fined Bt1.5 million.

However, the trail of careers in peril reaches back years. In 2013, the young actress Sutatta “Punpun” Udomsilp saw all of her contracts suspended after photos of her using meth were leaked to the public and her family admitted that she used drugs.

However, the young celebrity stopped using drugs before returning to act in movies again and regaining her popularity as a teen idol.

In another particularly high-profile case in December 2011, renowned rockstar Seksan “Sek Loso” Sukpimai came out to admit that he used “ice” after his estranged wife at the time, Wiphakorn Sookpimay, posted on Facebook photos of him consuming drugs.

He too was able to restore his image after spending months in rehabilitation and then returning to the music arena where he has founded and managed many related businesses. He also divorced Wiphakorn.

In March the previous year, the once-rising star Athip Nana, or “Ball”, was arrested after police found him in possession of marijuana and cocaine.

He was sentenced to one year and three months in jail, fined Bt12,000 and ordered to enter rehab. However, his sentence was suspended for two years.

In the same year, a female comedian known as Nok Choenyim was arrested for trying to smuggle 560 milligrams of “ice”, 580 milligrams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia from Cambodia to Thailand. It was the second time she was charged for such an offence.

Going all the way back to 2004, the popular young singer Joyce Triumph Kingdoms and her boyfriend were arrested and charged with possession of 4,000 “yaba” amphetamine tablets with intent to sell.